I feel like it was just yesterday that I was pregnant with Billy and now I am pregnant with his little brother. These two little guys will be just 22 months apart. Full on #boymom with 2 under 2...please send help!

I really have been eager to pick back up my blog so I could share some pregnancy thoughts and tips this time around so here I am! I figured today would be a good day to do a 1st trimester recap as well because I am 17 weeks already!

How/when I found out: December 5th! I found out super early at 4 weeks. My period was late and I just decided to take a test and sure enough there was a YES + sign! We have been blessed to get pregnant very quickly with both boys and will never take that for granted. Will was on an airplane flying to Santa Clara for work and I had to wait until he landed to call him and it seemed like the longest hour of my life. He was just as surprised and excited as I was!

Cravings/Aversions: Give me all the carbs. Crackers, cereal, bread, chips...and a side of guac would be nice too. I haven't had any real aversions this time around. However, I went through TERRIBLE morning sickness from around 7 weeks until 13/14 weeks. I ended up getting a prescription anti-nausea medication (diclegis) which helped some, but the sickness would still come in waves throughout the day. I never threw up thankfully and was able to keep food down and was eating wheat thins and saltines on the hour. I got so lucky with Billy to not experience this. Oh my gosh, it's the worst! Now I know what everyone complains about. UGH. I thought it could be a girl because I felt so different...but I guess every pregnancy is just very different and the way your body handles the hormones.

Workouts: I have been able to keep up my normal workouts so far! When I was feeling super sick (and TIRED - hello first trimester exhaustion is no joke especially with a toddler) I would skip out and rest. However, now that I am feeling much better and back to myself in the 2nd trimester I have been doing my home workouts (let me know if you want to join my next 3 week long challenge group that starts Monday March 12th!) and try to get to an Orange Theory workout once or twice a week to get out of the house! I definitely take it easy and watch my heart rate and don't push myself into the red zone. I try to listen to my body (despite being an incredibly competitive person!) I really want to incorporate more yoga and maybe start some prenatal yoga classes soon. I know it will help with the aches and pains that are coming...

How big is baby (aka Mom's weight gain): Around 10 lbs so far. This is one of the hardest parts of pregnancy for me! I feel like I worked so hard to lose all the baby weight and get back into shape and then it's like....here we go again! I gained about 45 lbs with Billy and would like to keep my weight gain at 35 lbs or under this time around. I think I took the "eating for two" a little bit too seriously and indulged a little bit too often while pregnant with Billy. Not that I won't treat myself from time to time this time around (especially when we go to Italy in a couple weeks!! UM hello gelato!) but I do want to keep my weight gain in check and keep it in the healthy range to avoid any complications and make my job easier postpartum! Oh, and the little babe is the size of a pomegranate this week! :)

Symptoms: First trimester -- nausea and exhaustion like I mentioned. Now I am feeling pretty darn good! Second trimester is certainly the sweet spot! I am already peeing 10000x a day so there's that. Up at least twice a night to use the bathroom. And just last week I started getting pelvic pain which I didn't have until 3rd trimester with Billy so hopefully that subsides and doesn't continue through the pregnancy. Accupuncture seemed to helped last time around so maybe I will try that again. OH and prenatal massages are my best friend! I've only had 1 so far but plan to definitely treat myself to a few of those again. Worth every penny.

Next Appointment: 20 week anatomy scan on Friday March 23rd! Cannot wait! We haven't seen the baby since the 13 week scan when we found out it was another boy so hopefully they confirm that for us and we get to see his little face again! I started feeling flutters around the same time as with Billy (15/16 weeks) but they are not consistent yet. I'm looking forward to feeling stronger kicks soon! ​​

Best. Dessert. Ever. This is such a tasty, healthy dessert! I adapted this recipe from the SkinnyTaste's Baked Pears with Walnuts and Honey. I had some macadamia nuts leftover from a fish recipe I made and thought they would taste really good with the pears -- and they sure did!

Okay, stop drooling and go make yourself some baked pears! You definitely should eat them right out of the oven!

Ingredients:

2 large ripe pears

Agave

shredded coconut

ground cinnamon

1/4 cup of macadamia nuts

Directions:Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Put the nuts in a food processor until they are ground up. Cut the pears in half and place them on a lined baking sheet. Put 1/2 teaspoon of agave on each piece and sprinkle with cinnamon and coconut. Bake for 30 minutes and serve with ice cream or froyo for dessert or some yogurt if you're having it for breakfast OR just enjoy deliciously plain!

Sorry for the long hiatus! Things have been a little crazy with the holidays and some big news....we are moving to San Diego!! In about 2 weeks! It's very exciting, but also bittersweet because DC has become home for the past 6+ years for me. I will miss my friends here and being able to walk everywhere and all the awesome stuff DC and city life has to offer! BUT I do look forward to lots of beach time, Mexican food, and of course time with my family. 2016 will be a whole new adventure for Will and me (& Luna!) Another reason to be excited for the move: DC winters. This morning I woke up and it was 12 degrees outside! It felt even colder than that with the wind chill. That's one thing I will not miss. When it's cold like this all I want to do is get bundled up and have some soup! This turkey crockpot recipe is one of my favorites to have this time of the year. I hope you enjoy it as much as we do! Happy New Year to all! Stay tuned for a yummy winter dessert later this week :) How good does this look?? This picture is before the chili cooked in the crockpot for 6 hours...we were too hungry to take pictures of it once it was ready - WOOPS!